Hello Pepper, I wanted to ask if you’re going to be participating in NHMonth this year? I absolutely ADORE ALL OF YOUR WORKS, and I hope you’re still writing 🙈💖
Also, any current WIP’s that you can tell us about (if any)? 🤭💖
My contribution is the sole artwork for NHMonth--unfortunately, I haven't had time to write fanfiction. Hoping that once it gets a little less hectic during the holiday months, I'll have a chance to catch up on reading some amazing NaruHina fics! So send recs my wayyy!!
Fic Author Self Rec! When you get this reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, or some snippets from upcoming WIPS. Let’s spread the self-love! Love ya and thank you for all you do!! 💖
Ahhhh!! Days!! Love you too and love the idea of spreading self-love! It's so hard for me to do lately... I feel like everything I write is blah.
I've wanted to share WIPs because they're fun... but it goes against my desire to dump out completely finished work so I kept holding back... but a part of me thinks I need some feedback/advice for this specific WIP? Like... if people have opinions on how they'd like the fic to end, I'm all ears because I'm afraid my current direction doesn't have the oomph I'm after. (I know that's not the point of you asking me about WIPS... but I do love what I have so far)
Here's a snippet of my WIP 'A Thousand Papercuts' (Midway into chapter 1)
Hinata made sure to contact Akane’s desk before she swung by the office. Hinata knew she did everything right, and even got a text from her husband five minutes before she arrived on his floor that proved he wasn’t in a crucial meeting. She made sure to properly greet Akane at her desk to ‘check in’.
“Thank you for calling in advance!” Akane said, looking much more pleasant and not a hint of annoyance in her tone. “I know it’s a hassle just to see your own husband, but I really do appreciate when things are done in an orderly fashion. Shall we?”
“Yes.” Hinata nodded, “Oh, and this is just a small offering for all the hard-workers here.” she passed over the large paper bag she filled with homemade cookies. She had done so every once in a while, and Naruto had always said how grateful the staff was. “As a token of the Uzumaki-family’s gratitude.”
Akane made a noise of pleasure, accepting the gift and peeking inside. “You shouldn’t have! Wow! I’ll be sure to pass them out.” but the way she tossed the bag a little roughly on her desk made Hinata finally pause and give her a long and scrutinizing look.
Akane must have noticed because she immediately back-tracked.
“Sorry, I’m a little heavy handed today–was it breakable?”
“N-no…”
“Please accept my apologies!”
Wordlessly, Hinata nodded. Akane shot her a shrug and a smile.
And that’s when Hinata’s dislike for the woman finally cemented in her heart. All of her previous interactions with the woman, to whom she gave generous excuses for her rudeness, suddenly made a lot more sense.
Akane was purposefully snubbing her. Hinata squared her shoulders, remembering the handful of times this had happened in the past with other bullies while she was still attending the Academy.
“This way.” Akane then flashed her a smug smile, a smile that expressed Akane’s mutual dislike of Hinata.
“I don’t mean to take time out of your day.” Hinata said, cautiously. Once she realized what kind of person Akane was, she knew it made the most sense to distance herself from Akane as soon as possible. “I know the way to his office, thank you.” She didn’t wait for a reply this time and walked her way to Naruto’s door, but felt Akane’s quickened footsteps following after her.
When Hinata got to Naruto’s office, Naruto’s looked like he was trying to desperately fight sleep while holding a dry electric razor to his face. He quickly shoved the razor under his desk, before relaxing, and seeing it was Hinata. His sheepish, boyish grin made Hinata’s heart ache.
“Oh Hinata!” Naruto got up from his desk. As he cheerfully waved, Akane squeezed past Hinata and entered his office first. She waved as if he was waving to her this whole time.
Hinata had just been pondering ‘why?’ the short time it took to walk over to Naruto’s office. Why was Akane being so rude? Why did Akane want to be openly rude to the Hokage’s wife? What benefits her for doing such a thing?
But Akane happily presented Hinata with the obvious reason right away.
Her voice turned to honey as she addressed Hinata’s husband, “Hokage-sama, I know it’s poor timing on my part, but I need you to stamp a few things?”
“Just put it on my desk,” Naruto said distractedly, waving her off. It didn’t surprise Hinata to see that Naruto didn’t even spare her a second glance. He was just as dense as she was to the come-ons of the opposite sex, or he had no interest in flirty coworkers. He comically craned his neck to keep his eye contact with Hinata even as Akane stood directly in front of him to try to block his view. “Hinata, you got a moment to chat?”
“Of course,” Hinata switched out the duffle bag she was carrying to one she spotted conveniently placed near the far left corner of the room.
“Yeah, it’s about Boruto and this ‘rebellious’ stage of his–” Naruto said, rubbing the base of his neck and grumbling. That’s when he did a double-take, noticing Akane was still in the room, and frowned.
Hinata took this time to observe how her husband dealt with Akane.
Naruto calmly waited for Akane to place some files on his desk. Akane was being deliberately slow, placing each piece of paper on the desk as if it was made of fine porcelain. Naruto lost his patience by the ten-second mark.
Naruto cleared his throat.
Akane looked up from her task as if snapped from a daze.
“I’d like to talk privately with my wife,” Naruto announced, pointing in the direction of the door. “Today. Now.”
“O-oh! Sorry Hokage-sama, after last night’s long meeting…” she placed a dainty wrist over her mouth to suppress a yawn. “I’m a little sleep-deprived.”
In any other circumstance, I’m sure this would be enough reason for a professional to let Akane linger and drag her feet out the door, but Naruto didn’t have the best manners himself.
“Well, why don’t you take the rest of the day off?” Naruto shrugged. “Shizune-nee-chan can take over from here. Go home.”
Akane looked flustered. “N-no! I’m really ok! I can still work!”
“It’s alright. We all see how hard you’ve been working. You deserve to catch up on some shut-eye.” Naruto assured her brusquely, practically pushing Akane out the door and shutting it without a second thought. “Ugh, surrounded by work-a-holics.” he joked right away as soon as he turned back toward Hinata.
“Said one of the biggest work-a-holics I know.” Hinata teased.
“Hey! It’s not just my fault! Nobody seems to want to stop and rest around here–I feel guilty every time I step out of the office!” Naruto whined. “Anyway, about Boruto…”
Naruto was back to rambling, and Hinata found herself not fully present. Much like Akane’s act to get herself to linger in Naruto’s presence, Hinata found her mind drifting on what a comical situation she was in.
She was now a wife worrying about her husband’s secretary. It was so cliche, and stupid.
She hadn’t had to deal with a jealous fangirl in a while. Hinata wasn’t a fun opponent toward petty women; she had grown up around especially sharp-tongued female relatives at the Hyuuga compound. She knew vicious ladies usually got bored if their victims didn’t entertain them. So Hinata had learned the difficult task of growing a thicker skin and letting barbed words slide off her back.
This method thankfully helped her ward away most of Naruto’s fangirls. They’d move on to more exciting prey. Hinata knew Akane would realize this sooner or later and give up when she realized Naruto was too devoted to his Hokage title to think of much else.
And Hinata would also have to limit the time she spent around Akane’s presence…
“Hinata..? You ok?”
Hinata blinked, realizing she was nodding when she was supposed to be saying something back.
“You want me to talk to Boruto about his behavior,” she asked, just picking up things from context. “I have your back. I’ll talk to him.”
“That’s the thing! Talking to him ain’t cutting it. And MY yelling isn’t getting through to him! Could you use one of the old ways to get Boruto to straighten up? Like…take one of his favorite toys away–or make him take a time out! He still gets time-outs, right?” Hinata gave him a scrutinizing look, wondering if he was serious, but Naruto snapped his fingers when the right word came to him, “Ground him! Can you ground him for me? I mean…” he then stomped over to the windows and pointed. “Look what he wrote on my face!!”
Hinata walked over to the window and peered up at the rock faces. She saw the awful words ‘shitty dad’ scrawled over Naruto’s stone face, and it only made her heartbreak.
He misses you. Hinata wanted to say. He’s lashing out! Just like you did! Can’t you see that?
“I’ll handle Boruto.” Hinata heard herself say to her worked up husband. She smoothed a hand over the orange fabric covering his heart. “Don’t worry.”
(End for now)
Essentially, it's a fic that would be resolved very quickly if Hinata just went up to Naruto and told him to fire his pesky secretary...but see, I don't see Hinata really doing that? She'd want to be diplomatic and subtle. She wouldn't want to cause waves... until Akane goes after her kids. It needs a lot more work... But it's REALLY just a fun excuse writing an underhanded mean-girl (Akane) get her just-comeuppance.
And yes--there was an outline... but the more recent changes I made would go against that and I'm fine with it? Haven't re-written a new outline in months so this fic is FULLY in limbo right now. lol
Pick a bunch of your WIPs and summarize them as badly as possible, then ask your followers to vote on which one they'd be most likely to read. Multiple/all/none options are completely optional.
I have to summarize these...badly? okay...
Out of context WIPs
Naruto's still high even though he thinks he isn't 🥴
It's sad-boy hours for Naruto, and then Shikamaru appears! ✉
Hinata's for once being the really bad date 💁🏻♀️
Hinata's got him on his knees for her 🛍
Naruto is the self-proclaimed biggest fan boy 😍
Hinata's looking for her literal dream boy but can't remember him at all 💖
Kushina takes a prophecy too seriously, and Naruto's just like...Okie 👍🏼
Naruto's never returning home, and he becomes Hinata's new beginning.
Voting ended onFeb 4, 2024
Actually I think my summaries are quite good lol. Half are updates and half are new, all in various stages of incomplete-ness.
I know Chloe posted hers already and Bunny is about to...hmm @opal-chan, @keroppri, @peppercornpress, @diyas-diaries-98, @wickermayne, and @sessakag if you'd like to join this game and retagging @happyocelot, @opttagoyeo, @nightowl27-writer, and @powerful-niya I'd love to see your guys' wip summaries hehe.
I absolutely love your fanfics. I continuously reread them whenever I want to feel something, like pure love. Do you have any plans on writing another naruhina fanfic in the future? (Close or far)
Aw thank you!! I love writing fanfics but yeah, have been so busy reading other people's works lately, my WIPs are gathering a heavy layer of dust.
I do have several WIPs that I'd say are all around 70% complete..? I've promised myself not to upload anything that isn't at least 99% complete from now on so that I don't drag on the updates. I love it when a fic writer updates swiftly after the first chapter drops--so I want to be an author who does that too~!!
want to send some good vibes because the nh fandom is a blessing: who are the mutuals that make you smile when they appear in your phone?
Ahhh, I've been putting this off! My introverted ass doesn't like giving half-assed replies and that's the mood I've been in lately, but I am ready now! (lmao I actually just removed tumblr from my phone again. Having a smartphone rly disincentives me from using my desktop, I gotta be honest. :p)
Mutuals who make me smile off the top of my head: @dayseternal-blog @sessakag @peppercornpress @savage-scarcity @mysummerchoi @schnikschnack @chloelapomme @wickermayne @rasenshurikn @spaciousignatius @zenzenzence @littlemonstert-blog @powerful-niya @mrs-messy (I may be missing some, but they might not be mutuals now that I think about it). Some of you I talk with and some of you I don't, but you all make being part of this community really awesome and I'm happy to be here with you guys.
AAHH~♥️ ♥️ ♥️ !!! I know it's tacky to add on and just go 'me too~! I wanna send good vibes too~!' but I seriously miss naruhina community. What a good bunch. Gold stars all around.
hiii..i just read again MFN and I couldn't get enough of it. But I always have this growing curiousity inside. I know this might be too much to ask but im really curious how naruto and hinata's first time happened in your MFN..I knew you included some hints but I cant help but wonder how it happened and what they felt that time.👉👈
Hey! I'm glad you liked MFN!!
Ah! NaruHina's first time... I feel like I added a lot of clues but maybe I edited a lot out? I was flirting with the idea of writing a prequel for a while but I just don't have any time for that (nor any interest) so here are my notes for their development:
*Spoilery down below:
On the morning of Naruto's 20th birthday (~6 months into living together), Hinata helps him change some bandages on him, and it reminds Naruto of the moment Hinata helped him rub ointment on his back during the botched moon mission (gotta have 'The Last' parallels all over MFN)...and they finally hash-out some uncomfortable truths. During the time they've lived together, it's been super obvious that they're attracted to each other, and it's been messing with both of them.
So Naruto tells Hinata he can't live with someone who is in love with him... so he'll move out, and let Hinata stay in their apartment.
Hinata assures Naruto she isn't 'in' love with him... and it isn't like that time on the moon, because she truly can't see a future with him. She also knows Naruto doesn't feel the same type of attraction she does toward him.
Naruto corrects her, and admits it's been very hard to keep things platonic--and accuses Hinata of trying to seduce him. Hinata's offended, and instead says she's been working overtime trying to ignore Naruto's advances. They have a bickering fight about who is seducing who, and suddenly they're aware that the mood's shifted and heck, it's Naruto's B-day and Hinata DID plan a fun surprise for him and they're both overcome with a lot of emotions on that day so... yeah. They do it. (It's kind of a cop-out, I know.)
Naruto and Hinata weren't technically ready for this sort of intimacy...so they're a mess in the aftermath. Naruto scrambles to try to fulfill his promise to leave the apartment to her, but can't fight his way out of the lease (yet another cop-out *sigh* I'm reading my notes and smdh). Hinata feels like Naruto is now afraid of her, and is ashamed of fulfilling all the rumors that were buzzing around them... so more drama ensues. But they obviously end up in an arrangement where they keep sleeping with each other. They just never fully talked out their first time though. And I hope that shows when reading the first few chapters of MFN.
hiii!! hope you're doing well. just passing here to say that for the past week I've been reading your naruhina fics and omg, they're so GOOD!! love how you write their dynamic, so cute and fun at the same time ;v; love how you write them both!! That being said, I was wondering if you have a particular artist or song that remind you of them? Your Hinata is so femenine and sweet that made me remind of Alina Baraz's music, idk if you have listened to her but I swear when I was reading your fics (especially The Red Scarf) 'If You Let Me' started playing in my mind haha. All her music remind me of how you write her, it matches Hinata's vibe because her music is mostly romantic and intimate. Hope if you have any chance you maybe want to listen to her!! Thanks for sharing your work with us, you're really talented!! Take care <33
hellooo!!!!
Ummmm!!! Super-flattered that an Alina Baraz song popped in your head while reading my fic because I LOVE her!!! I've got so many Baraz songs on my Hinata, and NaruHina playlists lolol. ('Floating' and 'Keep me in Love' fit so well too)
I love how 'If You Let Me' in particular feels so enticing and dreamy! Such a mood! There's also a confident and assuring tone in this song that fits my head-canon for Hinata.
To answer your question "Do I have a particular artist or song that reminds me of NaruHina"--other than Alina Baraz? YES!! And he pairs so well with Alina Baraz too! It's-- Christian Kuria. I feel like so many of his songs fit the feel I want for a NaruHina combo. I listen to a lot of his songs for inspo. And if you look into almost any of my NaruHina playlists for my particular fics, you'll for sure find one of his songs. lol.
The song I refer to a LOT is this one:
((Please please please, just listen to the lyrics--and tell me it doesn't make you think of Naruto-<3->Hinata...but there are so many covers to this song sung with a female voice that's perfect from Hinata's POV too >.<))
OMG I wanna know more songs that people like associating with NaruHina. I always find it so comforting and insightful!! Thank you for this question, Anon!!! Love your music taste!!
Hello Days, I heard about the wildfires in Hawaii and once again hoping you and your family are doing okay. 💞
Hello Happyocelot 💞 and anyone else who reads this.... My family is on Oahu, so we're very much physically removed from Maui, but my coworker grew up in Lahaina, and his family's home burned down with the historic town. The daily news about it just gets worse and worse about the victims and reasons and how the situation is impacting so many things (I see now that I was truly naive about how disasters take a toll across borders and distance and touch down in all facets of life), and tbh I'm trying to hear about it as little as possible for my own mental health and I still know more than I'd like (even having stress dreams earlier this week). It's all upsetting and depressing to process, so... There are tons of fundraising efforts going on around the islands, the situation is weighing heavily on everyone's minds. We've been donating food, clothes, and money this past week. What's also horrifying to know is how easily this could happen to similar dry communities on any of the islands, like there are wildfires on Oahu every year.
Maui United Way
Maui Public Schools (Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation)
Maui Food Bank
Maui Humane Society
Kākoʻo Maui Hawaiian Way Fund (Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement)
I love your stories and your art, they are so beautiful. We appreciate your work in the naruhina community <3 ❤️ Besides Naruhina, do you like another pairing?
Aw thank you! I miss the NaruHina community~!
Besides NaruHina... what other pairings do I like in the Naruto fandom? Or just generally?
In Naruto, I really love Karin/Suigetsu, Hanabi/Konohamaru, and Mito/Hashirama. I kinda draw toward couples that are 'opposites-attracts' with a common goal or dream? That goes for outside of Naruto-fandom too, like BBxRae (Teen Titans), and KyoxTohru (Fruits Basket), and even more recently Loid x Yor (SpyXFamily).
Do you have any NH doujin recommendation that's available to buy on toranoana?
Thx in advance 🥰😍🤩
Hmmm it looks pretty sparse right now in the toranoana store...
But I'd recommend Happy Present 2!
It's a collection of short stories from a bunch of doujinshi artists focusing on the theme of what Hinata would get for Naruto for his birthday? (Happy Present 1 is all about Naruto gifting Hinata a present but it's sold out) It's a simple prompt, but each artist comes up with really touching and creative ways to tell their short story. Very wholesome and sweet! And you get a lot of content for your yen~!
